I had heard that he is the magic that is at the core of the ECM sound not Manfred Eicher. Interesting that he gets the studio piano tuned every day and sometimes twice a day.
An interview with Jan Erik Konshaug engineer for ECM
by 2 Comments
RIP Mark Moffatt. Who ? Well Stranded by the Saints for starters.
by 2 Comments
Obituary
Impressive career. Worth a read.
ATM – visiting Greece and maybeTurkey
by 41 Comments
MRS Wells and I are planning a trip to Greece. April is current intended date. -is this a good time to travel. Probably 4 weeks duration. Mrs Wells is keen on Turkey but I need to be convinced. My impression is most of heritage gone, and key spots very overcrowded with visitors e. Lying on a beach is not a priority as I live beachside and will be coming out of our summer. So what is the appeal for those who have visited? Thanks in advance.
ATM – selling bootleg vinlys
by 20 Comments
Can’t use discogs. Where have people sold them and how did you value them?
ATM -cooling fan for electronic gear
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I am looking for a small cooling fan for a hi fi set up. The area it is in is just a bit too snug and getting a new unit, at this stage, is not feasible. With summer ahead,down here, I am considering my options. One option is a small fan (the area is not sealed) to disperse the heat better. Obviously noise is a factor – can’t imagine it needs much grunt. Ideally I’d like to power it on and off with the amp. Can a USB port be used to power it? See attached photo.
Grace Cummings, The Espy St Kilda
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Venue:
The Espy St Kilda, Melbourne
Date: 12/07/2024
I had seen the name around but my first encounter with Grace Cummings was as support for Calexico. She walked onstage barefoot, to an electric piano. She was backed by a guitar. Then, out came that deep, sonorous, voice that immediately had us looking at each other in surprise. Voice asid I wasn’t a huge fan of her songs but Chas was so when he said he had a spare ticket for her own show with a band I said sure, why not.
I did some research. A Melbourne folkie with the classic Dylan, Joni and Neil influences, she attracted attention with a version of Bob’s It’s All Over Now Baby Blue. I’d love to hear that.Signed to King Gizzard’s record label, toured with them, done a lot of shows in Europe and America been on Colbert etc and most recently put out a new album produced by Jonathan Wilson. Ramona has a much bigger sound than her first 2, maybe to match her voice. The Cover and promo pics have this demure looking woman in long dress and perfectly coiffed hair.
So, on to the iconic Gershwin Room. A smallish room » Continue Reading.
John Mayall RIP
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Obituary
90 playing and touring pretty close to the end. Dat man knew his blues. What a legacy! His voice was always the challenge but some damn fine records.
RIP Happy Traum
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Obituary
Came to my attention via those extra live tracks on Dylan’s Double Greatest Hits. What an album that was ! onths later, Dylan would agree to release a second “greatest hits” compilation, provided he could compile it himself, issue it as a double album, and include several older compositions which he had written but never issued himself. To accommodate this last condition, Dylan took it upon himself to hold a recording session at Columbia’s Recording Studios in New York. On September 24, 1971, in Columbia’s Studio B, Dylan recorded four songs with his friend, Happy Traum.
“He felt there were some songs that he had written that had become hits of sorts for other people, that he didn’t actually perform himself,” recalls Traum, “and he wanted to fit those on the record as well…So we just went in one afternoon and did it, it was just the two of us and the engineer, and it was very simple…we chose three [songs] on the spot and mixed them…in the space of an afternoon…Sometimes I wasn’t even sure if it was a final take until we would just finish and Bob would say, ‘Okay, let’s go and mix it.’”
“Crash On » Continue Reading.
Is Wordle now subscription only?
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That’s it for me if so.
Crowded House – Gravity Stairs
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New album , the second with his kids Elroy and Liam in the band. Nick Seymour’s there too and long time collaborator Mitchell Froom. I have never been much of a fan , liked Intriguer , Finn N. when he joined Split Enz but even a greatest hits stayed on the shelf. And I’m very wary of any bands where the kids are in on it. But I like this. Vocals sound wonderful. Some flat bits but think dreamy Beatles.
Nusrat album found at Real World in pristine quality
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One of my all time favourite artists.
We call upon the composer to revert- get the band back together Nick.
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Having a Bad Seeds day, prompted by some brief line in a paper where Nick suggested the Bad Seeds may tour here next year. Creatively I think, much as I love the Blixa and Barry era, Dig Lazarus Dig is the high point, touring that along with Grinderman. Powerful and driving and still literary enough to include prolix in a lyric. Just before the clutch of Warren Ellis and those soundtrack jobs had him disappear into ethereal pretension.
The Pretenders 1981 full concert
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Rockpalast
Hadnt seen this one on YouTube before. The original band, in their pomp, and Chrissie scorching hot in every way
Klaxon The Necks to tour Europe in November
In a gadda da vida hit maker’s front man last to go
Obituary
The origin of that hit is one of the great rock anecdotes.
ATM – routers
by 17 Comments
As my ongoing electronic torment continues I now move to home internet connectivity. When this house was built I got them to run some ethernet cable cat 6 I think from where the modem is located to the other end of the house. Technology moves quickly but I am assuming it is still more stable and stronger to connect a router to this ethernet cable point located upstairs? Most extenders I see in shops don’t appear to have ethernet in points, just ethernet out. Any suggestions? As ever, thanks in advance.
Perfect albums – Court and Spark
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Prompted by the 1974 thread and a play of this record today, if I turn my mind to it there are a no doubt quite a few perfect albums. But this is one of them. The perfect blend of jazz and folk. Joni’s voice still in great nick and not too trilly. Sublime musicianship, an excellent cover version , every song of a high standard. A leader in its field. Lovely cover with that raised artwork by Joni. Yes. Perfect.
ATM – how to delete all your photos of an iphone in one fell swoop
by 35 Comments
Mrs Wells has some 30000 photos on her phone to the point it can barely function. I said you have to delete them. So I downloaded the latest batch, a mere 15000 pics, many duplicates and 300 videos , many 2-3 seconds long to add to the other gazillion on file. So onto deleting the pics from her iphone 14. I know about select and sliding across to bulk delete. But I’m talking many thousands of the bastards. I can’t find a delete all option anywhere. Anyone know a hack.
I remember yooooouuu. Frank Ifield dies at 86
by 26 Comments
Obituary
Yep he was still alive.
Stu Kimball, long time Dylan guitarist, et al – early onset dementia.
by 1 Comment
He is 62.
Duane Eddy RIP
by 15 Comments
Obituary
Died at 86. Pretty fair innings.
ATM – or ask the fenton : Marantz amp on the blink
by 15 Comments
I have this fairly recent integrated Marantz amp PM6005 which wasn’t cheap. It has been in storage for a couple of years and I just set it up again in the new digs.
Incredibly annoyingly, after a couple of minutes the unit shuts down and the red power light flashes. Sitting on the bench unconnected, the power stays on. As soon as I connect a source to it , it goes back on the blink. I have read of others having a similar episode after bringing back out of storage. 2 options suggested are poor connections or overheating. The same set up worked fine on another amp so it aint wiring and the amp isn’t even warm so its not that either.
So I suspect it’s “internal”.
Thanks in advance.
Country music is king with the kids
by 39 Comments
Veteran Aussie music promoter was interviewed recently and he made this observation: …….But the explosion is in country music, which is the biggest genre of music right now. The youngest ticket-buying generation of people now are known as “Zoomers” and a recent survey of the Zoomers in Australia saw 69 per cent of them nominate country music as their favourite.
Do you think this applies across all the major markets?
Why is the Tedeschi Trucks Band so boring?
by 69 Comments
Venue:
Palais, St Kilda Melbourne
Date: 03/04/2024
Why is the Tedeschi Trucks Band so boring?
In this, my third attendance at one of their shows, I spent a fair bit of time pondering this question. This 12 piece band from Jacksonville released an album described by All Music Guide as “roots music that cuts across and entwines blues, rock, jazz, soul, gospel, funk country, various African musics and Indian raga”. So pretty much a continuance of the Derek Trucks Band. But, in this concert at least, apart from the occasional dash of Indian style sounds in some of Derek’s soloing and the In A Silent Way intro to Midnight In Harlem they were pretty much a white southern blues soul outfit. And they’re a covers band. In this 2-set show of 19 songs with 9 covers, the only memorable song of theirs was Midnight In Harlem – and what a song it is, granted, but the point remains. So, what did my pondering come up with? So, with a 12-piece band I think the keyboard player got 2 solos, the trombone one, the sax maybe 2 and this is over a 19 song set. Why so sparing? You’ve » Continue Reading.
Elvis Costello’s Sydney show gets a pasting
by 29 Comments
“THERE IS NO POINT PUSSYFOOTING around, this was not a good show. This was in many ways a terrible show. The worst I’ve seen in 42 years and 40+ gigs watching Elvis Costello in various incarnations.”
These days, it is not often that elder statesmen musicians get a kicking by elder music industry journos. Admittedly some of it is about the sound but all the same.
And while I’m here, for all its iconic status, I reckon I have encountered more shit sound at the Sydney Opera House, as a proportion of events attended, than any other venue.
